The Road to Appomattox

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Our class met at Fort Harrison and traveled to Petersburg. The next day we followed Lee's flight to Appomattox, where General Grant's army finally defeated Robert E. Lee's famous Army of Northern Virginia in April of 1865. Although the Civil War did not totally end with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, the Confederacy was basically lost. Their president and government officials had fled Richmond when word came that Petersburg had finally fallen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox was accepted by Grant with gracious dignity. There is beauty to the story but it is tempered by the knowledge that the war had wasted many lives and virtually destroyed the resources of the south.

Fort Harrison in the Outer defenses of Richmond		City Point
Petersburg Battlefield	Fort Conahey	The Crater, Petersburg
Petersburg Nat'l Cemetery	Pamplin Historical Park and Museum of the Civil War Soldier

Next: Five Forks to Appomattox

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